Jesus Creed

Walking Mary

Everyone approximately my age, and the detail itself need not be mentioned, from Freeport Illinois knows the story of Midnight Mary. So, when I saw that James VanOosting published a novel, called Walking Mary, and built the central character on the Midnight Mary we all had come to know, I had to read it — even if it meant reading a novel.
Let me tell the story. As a child, I grew up knowing the myth and the reality of Midnight Mary. Her son went off to WW2 and never came back; for the rest of her life, she went to the train station daily to check out the train to see if her son was returning. It is the story of a tragedy, of course. As kids, we were afraid of Midnight Mary — she wore black, she mumbled, and the stories about her grew and grew into the myths. We saw her often downtown — walking, talking and riding buses. She haunted us all.
I wonder how many of you have read novels rooted in places you know well; in characters known to you???
Now here’s something else about Walking Mary: the author lived in the home we once lived in before the author’s family moved on. And, the author and I went to church together for a few years before they moved into the suburbs of Chicago.
The book is the story of redemption: VanOosting redeems Midnight Mary from the myth of possession, madness, and intimidation and he turns her into a figure of redemption — and he does so at times at the expense of the Baptist church we grew up in and at the expense of the father figure in the book. I’ll not tell you anymore. But, I found the book engrossing.
I wondered, as I read through this book, how often we are given the opportunity to redeem characters in our life, how often we can end the myth of demonizing others and, by simple acts of kindness and inclusion, transform them from the myth around them to the reality that is in them. That’s what this book did to me over and over.
Lots of details have been changed: Midnight Mary becomes an African American Walking Mary; Lincoln Blvd seems to be the combination at times of both Lincoln and Stephenson (another street on which my family lived); and I love it that he brings up Lincoln Grade school — though I’m not sure he’s got the Boys entrance at the right location. Our old neighbor, Ronnie Shasker, is a tough in the book.
The book says Ages 12 and above; I don’t know what this means. It sure didn’t read like that level to me.

Scot,
I went to HS and College at West Point, NY. My senior year of HS a book was written about a famous West Point legend, the Ghost of the 47th Division (one of the cadet barracks). In it were described several people I knew including the librarian, the head of the English Dept., several professors and a few of us locals (not me ). It was called Shades of Grey. Out of print now, but a neat ghost story/mystery.
And yes, it was real fun trying to figure out who the characters were based on!

*gasp* non-G. K. Chesterton fiction!?!! Alumni of my high school started their own film company and have made the Legend of Cuba Road or something (and a sequel is in the works). Based on ghosts on Cuba Road (which I occasionally drive past, but have never been on). It was mokre of a high school scare story than anything.

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Scot McKnight is a widely-recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. He is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University (Chicago, Illinois). A popular and witty speaker, Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly asked to speak in local churches and educational events throughout the USA and in Denmark and South Africa. Dr. McKnight obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham (1986).

Scot McKnight is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for New Testament Studies. He is the author of more than thirty books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others (Paraclete, 2004), which won the Christianity Today book of the year for Christian Living. Recent books include Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us (Paraclete, 2005), The Story of the Christ (Baker, 2006), Praying with the Church (Paraclete, 2006), and The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus (Paraclete, 2007). A recent book, A Community called Atonement (Abingdon, 2007), has been nominated for the Grawameyer Award. He broadened his Jesus Creed project in writing a daily devotional: 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed (Paraclete, 2008). His studies in conversion were expanded with his newest book, Finding Faith, Losing Faith (Baylor, 2008), a book he co-authored with his former student Hauna Ondrey. His most recent books are The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible (Zondervan, 2008) and Fasting (Thomas Nelson, 2009).

Forthcoming books include a commentary on James (Eerdmans, 2010). He is presently researching “gospel” in the earliest Christian communities.

Other books include Who Do My Opponents Say I am? (co-edited with Joseph Modica), Jesus and His Death (Baylor, 2005), A Light among the Gentiles (Fortress, 1992), A New Vision for Israel (Eerdmans, 1999), Turning to Jesus (Westminster John Knox, 2002), Galatians (Zondervan, 1993) and 1 Peter (Zondervan, 1996), Interpreting the Synoptic Gospels (Baker, 1988), and he is a co-editor with J.B. Green and I.H. Marshall of the award-winning The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (IVP, 1992) as well as the co-editor, with J.D.G. Dunn, of The Historical Jesus in Current Study (Eisenbraun’s, 2005). He regularly contributes chapter length studies to dictionaries, encyclopedias, books and articles for magazines and online webzines. McKnight’s books have been translated into Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Portuguese.

McKnight’s award-winning blog, Jesus Creed, has been rated by Technorati.com as the #1 site for Emerging Church and continues to increase in readership.

Scot McKnight was elected into the Hall of Honor at Cornerstone University in honor of his basketball accomplishments during his college career. He and his wife, Kristen, live in Libertyville, Illinois. They enjoy traveling, long walks, gardening, and cooking. They have two adult children, Laura (married to Mark Barringer) and Lukas (married to Annika Nelson), and one grandchild: Aksel Donovan Nelson McKnight.

Scot McKnight is a widely-recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. He is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University (Chicago, Illinois). A popular and witty speaker, Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly asked to speak in local churches and educational events throughout the USA and in Denmark and South Africa. Dr. McKnight obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham (1986).

Scot McKnight is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for New Testament Studies. He is the author of more than thirty books, including the award-winning The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others (Paraclete, 2004), which won the Christianity Today book of the year for Christian Living. Recent books include Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us (Paraclete, 2005), The Story of the Christ (Baker, 2006), Praying with the Church (Paraclete, 2006), and The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus (Paraclete, 2007). A recent book, A Community called Atonement (Abingdon, 2007), has been nominated for the Grawameyer Award. He broadened his Jesus Creed project in writing a daily devotional: 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed (Paraclete, 2008). His studies in conversion were expanded with his newest book, Finding Faith, Losing Faith (Baylor, 2008), a book he co-authored with his former student Hauna Ondrey. His most recent books are The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible (Zondervan, 2008) and Fasting (Thomas Nelson, 2009).

Forthcoming books include a commentary on James (Eerdmans, 2010). He is presently researching “gospel” in the earliest Christian communities.

Other books include Who Do My Opponents Say I am? (co-edited with Joseph Modica), Jesus and His Death (Baylor, 2005), A Light among the Gentiles (Fortress, 1992), A New Vision for Israel (Eerdmans, 1999), Turning to Jesus (Westminster John Knox, 2002), Galatians (Zondervan, 1993) and 1 Peter (Zondervan, 1996), Interpreting the Synoptic Gospels (Baker, 1988), and he is a co-editor with J.B. Green and I.H. Marshall of the award-winning The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (IVP, 1992) as well as the co-editor, with J.D.G. Dunn, of The Historical Jesus in Current Study (Eisenbraun’s, 2005). He regularly contributes chapter length studies to dictionaries, encyclopedias, books and articles for magazines and online webzines. McKnight’s books have been translated into Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Portuguese.

McKnight’s award-winning blog, Jesus Creed, has been rated by Technorati.com as the #1 site for Emerging Church and continues to increase in readership.

Scot McKnight was elected into the Hall of Honor at Cornerstone University in honor of his basketball accomplishments during his college career. He and his wife, Kristen, live in Libertyville, Illinois. They enjoy traveling, long walks, gardening, and cooking. They have two adult children, Laura (married to Mark Barringer) and Lukas (married to Annika Nelson), and one grandchild: Aksel Donovan Nelson McKnight.